We have a brand new facility here on the banks of the Catawba River. Its right off I 85 at the Charlotte Meckenburg, Gaston County Line.(Near Belmont NC) We have been to the mountains quite a bit over the years. It seems like a great place to get wet. Check this link.. I understand they do not rent Kayaks but rent only rafts. You can bring your own Kayak though. They also offer many other activities. Mtn Bike Trails, Climbing Walls, ETC. I think there are only a couple facilities nation wide. This being one of them. Summer is winding down and thought if you were looking for a place to give yourself and the kids a fun time. This will work.

Nope. But I'm into whitewater canoeing, have a solo canoe (12.5'). Have paddled in GA the Upper Chattahoochee, Amicalola Creek, Talking Rock Creek, Chestatee, Conasauga, Toccoa, Etowah, Chattooga Sec II, Hiwassee in TN, Nantahala and French Broad in NC. Did a 9 day raft trip on the Colorado in the Grand Canyon and the outfitter let me paddle an inflatable kayak through some BIG water, best trip of my life. Ok, I've rafted the Ocoee and Sec III and IV of the Chatooga too. Thinking of doing the New or Gauley in WV on a raft and may redo the Colorado trip next year. Anyone for a Nanty run in late Sept?

I've rafted the Lower New River at 3 and a half and 5 and a half, and rafted the Cheat River as well. I dropped into Grandma's washing machine at Middle Keaney on the New, and Coliseum on the Cheat. I haven't done it in a long time, however.

Before we started having kids my wife and I rafted several times in the Sierra foothills. We did the Stanislaus , Merced and the American rivers . The Merced comming out of Yosemite has some class IV rapids and was the best. One of my someday trips is to do the Colorado through the Grand Canyon...someday.

____________________ " I love that woman better than any woman I've ever seen"

Ironic that you post this tonight rottinpeach,my 82-year-old dad just did the 5K Run/Walk Fitness Series tonight & he was telling me about the place,we're thinking of going rafting there in the near future.(by the way,pops won the 70 & over age group-again )

quote:Ironic that you post this tonight rottinpeach,my 82-year-old dad just did the 5K Run/Walk Fitness Series tonight & he was telling me about the place,we're thinking of going rafting there in the near future.(by the way,pops won the 70 & over age group-again )

Congrats to Pops..........I hope I am still around at 82 much less be winning races. My dad is 87 mom 86. Dad use to run track for U of Penn at the Penn Relays. back when they ran on cinders.

The great Laurie Lewis, who represents the california wing of the bluegrass-newgrass world along with Grisman, has a new, free, and live download version of her song "Diamond Joe" here - http://www.laurielewis.com/store.htm

Also, Laurie and her partner Tom Rozum do some amazing river rafting-multi-day camping trips on a couple of rivers out west where you raft by day and listen to their live music around the campfire each night.They have just released the dates for two trips in 2008;

quote:Tom and I will be going on two musical river trips this next year. They are:

Tuolumne River, Aug. 19-23
Northern California

Rogue River, Aug. 23-27
Southern Oregon

Enjoy days spent on these wild and scenic rivers and evening spent with nothing much to do in camp except for listen to music and relax.

As you can see, there is just enough time for a nice leisurely drive through beautiful country in between the two trips, and we invite you to jon us on both of them. For more information, call Echo River Trips at (800) 652-3246, or visit our river page - http://www.laurielewis.com/river.htm

In the past, we've traveled the Rio Grande through Big Bend and the Taos Box, wound down the Salt River in Arizona, the Chama in Northern New Mexico, Oregon's Rogue, the Middle Fork of the Salmon in Idaho, and Northern California's Tuolumne.

On all their river trips, Laurie and Tom play music around the camps in the evening, while the guides are making delicious dinners for us. We often play on late into the night, and sometimes are joined by other musicians (you, if you come).
Tuolumne River, California
August 19 - 21, 2008 (3 days/2 nights)

Bluegrass on the Tuolumne River

Over the years we have found that there are few combinations that work as well as music and whitewater rafting, so each year we offer a Tuolumne trip with bluegrass musicians Laurie Lewis and Tom Rozum. We call it "Bluegrass on Whitewater."

Laurie and Tom enjoy the Rogue River for the excellent wildlife and the opportunity to brave the whitewater in inflatable kayaks. On this trip, we will spend four days rafting the wild and scenic Rogue River and an additional day exploring Laurie's favorite section of the river. Each evening, Laurie and Tom will fill the camp with lively bluegrass. They typically bring a guitar, mandolin and a fiddle for their own use and encourage guests to bring their "river instruments" (make sure you have a waterproof bag!) and join in the jam.

quote:Whitewater, Bluegrass:
Tuolumne Rafting Trip Offers the Best of Both Worlds
By Gary Linehan
Reprinted with permission from
The Union Democrat, Sonora, CA
Friday, August 8, 1997

Life on the road is standard fare for most musicians, but bluegrass star Laurie Lewis takes it a step further by touring on wild rivers.
Earlier this summer, she and musical companion Tom Rozum made their third "Bluegrass and Whitewater" trip on the Tuolumne River with the Echo Wilderness Company of Oakland.
Participants spent three days in the open, rafting one of the world's most challenging rivers by day and listening to some of the world's best music by night.
"It's my idea of a perfect vacation," said equine veterinarian Nancy Elliot of Pescadero, who was on her second Tuolumne bluegrass trip with her husband, Ernie, a horse shoer, and another Bay Area couple, also farriers.
"The first time, we saw the trip in her newsletter," Elliot said. "We jumped on that and got the last four spots. This year we planned on it and we'll probably do it again next year, wherever she goes."
Lewis and Rozum, both residents of Berkeley, have made a total of 10 musical river trips so far. The others were on the Rogue River in Oregon, Salt River in Arizona, Rio Grande River in Texas and New Mexico, and Chama River in New Mexico, Arranged either by Echo or Far Flung Adventures of Big Bend, Texas.
"The people on these trips are more or less fans of ours," Lewis said before embarking on a two-week tour of the East Coast and England. "We set the trips up in advance, with Tom and myself playing music as part of the package. We're among the guests all day and when we get to camp, we play music. It's so fun. It's great for everybody--even the guides get entertainment while they're cooking and cleaning!"
The Tuolumne trip is one of her favorites.
"It's such an incredibly beautiful river," she said. "California rivers speak to me in a way that not all rivers do. I grew up going to the Stanislaus River every summer, so California rivers feel like home to me."
The six boats on the mid-July Tuolumne trip carried 18 guests, six guides and all the gear necessary for cooking, camping, and concerts.
Fine dining is always part of the guided rafting experience. The menu on this trip consisted of steak, chicken and wine one night and fajitas with margaritas the next.
After dinner comes the music, probably the most intimate performances Lewis' fans will ever see.
"Sometimes we'll try out our new songs, but this time we didn't, and I've been working on a lot of new songs," Lewis said. "We did pull up some stuff we don't normally play. We had so many requests we just played what people wanted to hear."
Elliot's request on her birthday was "Love Chooses You," one of the songs Lewis and her band Grant Street played at the Elliot's wedding in June 1991. "Four or five couples got up to waltz with us," Nancy said.
The second night turned into a talent show lasting until midnight. "We just kind of passed the guitar around," lewis said. "People told stories and jokes and sang songs. It was really wonderful and there were some very talented people."
"This trip was much more musically inclined," Elliot agreed. "People were much more into the bluegrass side of it, and you can't get a better spot for good bluegrass."
Come daylight, the group was back on the water.
The entire trip covered 18 miles from Meral Pool to the Wards Ferry Bridge, including 30 rapids, among them the famous Clavey Falls and Ramshead runs. Rivers are rated on a difficulty scale of 1 to 6 based on their most challenging rapids, with 1 being very easy and 6 being unrunnable.
The Tuolumne alternates between Class 4--difficult, with powerful, irregular waves, dangerous rocks, boiling eddies and strong currents requiring precise maneuvering, and Class 5--extremely difficult, with long and violent rapids, extremely obstructed riverbed, violent drops and very steep gradient requiring expert maneuvering.
"It's a risky business," said Echo guide Vladimir Gavrilov. "The Tuolumne is one of the most difficult rivers in the United States. Guides must have very good skills in psychology, be very patient and, especially in high water, should create an atmosphere where the people trust in themselves. Echo calls the Tuolumne the Dom Perignon of whitewater and wilderness."
Participants meet at Casa Loma Store off Ferretti Road near Smith Station, then board a bus for what the brochure calls a "spectacular 45-minute drive down the canyon."
Gavrilov more succinctly calls it a "Class 5" road.
Gavrilov, manager of Echo's Tuolumne operation, has 26 years of river experience, six of them with Echo. In his native Soviet Union, he was a physicist and led sports expeditions for 20 years.
Rozum was one of those aboard Gavrilov's boat on the July trip. "We had a great time with him and he and I had something in common because he has Slavic ancestors," Gavrilov said.
"There's a very friendly, warm relationship between the people on these trips," he said. "I've seen millionaires, world famous people and politicians, and all of them have been very open and available. The river makes people equal."
Lewis agreed, noting that the guests don't mind her appearance conforming to prevailing river standards.
"You don't get dirty riding all day on the river, but you can get very unkempt," she said.
But that's all part of the fun.
"It's a prefect blend of wilderness experience and luxury," she said.

Brock, you ever paddle a C1? That was my boat of choice, also paddled open canoe and kayak. I've paddle most of the big east coast water, my favorite being the lower Gauley. Upper is freakin intense and I've never paddled it in a hard boat, shredded it a couple of time though.

Great times...wish I had more time to do more now. Paddling, camping, handing out with my Deadhead friends.....

No, w/ a private outfitter, Moki Mac, same as I did in '00. It is awesome, food prepared by the guides is excellent, and the scenery is otherworldly. We are doing the 9 day lower section, from Phantom Ranch to Lake Meade. You hike down from the rim 10 miles and meet guide oared rafts that put in at Lake Powell for a 6 day run to Phantom. But I know what you are saying, private trips have waiting lists of 5+ years or so.

Never paddled a C1 Rhonda, but one of the guys on my previous Colorado trip had one, he was some paddler. Wow, the Gauley, that's beyond my skill level! I have a Mohawk Probe 12, not the best for the big stuff, but manageable in flatwater that we see in our drop and pool rivers around here. I wish I'd done more to try and meet you for the Easter Beacon show, you're speakin' my language!

Like I said Brock, Upper G is beyond me too. I'm totallly bummed that I missed fall damn releases and bridge day this year. I'll be at the Beacon new years, then March Madness (April/May Madness)....we'll soon hook up and talk big water!

I did something, I said I probably wouldnt do and got a boat with a motor. I have paddled all my life and will continue to do so. Its a very small boat (13ft) with a 25hp tiller steer. Its a Boston Whaler boat. Pulls so easy. We took the maiden voyage in it Saturday.

I named the boat The Elizabeth Reed....................Here are a couple of shots on the
Uwharrie River here in North Carolina...........good canoe river. My brothers and I use
to canoe this every New Years Eve. This part is the slower running part near where
it enters into the Pee Dee River (Lake Tillery). It enters right across from Morrow Mtn
State Park. The canoe trip is around 35 miles. You have to portage around a low bridge
and a small dam if the water is low. The Uwharrie Mtns is the oldest mountain range in
North America. They use to tower higher than the Rocky Mtns millions of years ago.

We cut the engine off and it was so quiet you could hear the deer walking up on the hills......As peaceful as it gets.

Hey rottinpeach; i'm into whitewater (altho not as much as in the past) and mtn biking. have 7 boats, 3 canoes and 4 kayaks. have done most of the eastern stuff, Colorado, Montana, Grand etc. PM me if you get to DC...

Dancingrhonda: i'm in DC and still do the lower G each fall. camp at the take out in Swiss, and dine at the Glen Ferris Inn overlooking Kanawa Falls. very nice time. used to do Upper Yo and G, not any more...Jim

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